Obituaries

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Donald “Don” Ray Yorke

Donald “Don” Ray Yorke, 83, died Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at Mason General Hospital. He was born on December 16, 1929 in Clearwater, NE to Roy and Alice (Briggs) Yorke. Don attended high school in the Rainier Beach area of Seattle. He married Laura Ashbaugh in Shelton, WA in September of 1977. Don had previously been married to Colleen O’Dell whom he divorced. He worked as a machinist and supervisor for Certified Aerospace Company in Shelton, starting in 1959 and working until his retirement 32 years later. Don was a past member of the Nimrod Club in Shelton. He enjoyed four wheeling, boating, hunting, camping, taking a boat trip to Alaska, working on cars, tinkering, traveling to Arizona for the winter with his wife (snowbirds), panning for gold in Arizona and rock hounding. Donald is survived by his wife, Laura Yorke of Shelton; four sons, Doug Yorke (Fran) of San Jose, CA, Russ Yorke of Phoenix, AZ, Thom Yorke, (Janna) of Shelton and Bob Yorke (Paulette) of Lacey, WA; three step-sons, Glenn Lockwood (Brenda) of Madison, WI, Scott Lockwood(Robyn) of Shelton and Sam Lockwood (Julie) of Kalama, WA; brother, Lawrence Yorke of Auburn, WA; two sisters, Marge Munson of Bonney Lake, WA and Barb Benson of Puyallup, WA; 16 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.. He is preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Alice Yorke and step-daughter, Janet Walker. A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family was served by McComb Funeral Home.

Catherine Lorraine Bracy

Catherine Lorraine Bracy passed away on May 3, 2013 at Capital Medical Center. She was born to Henry Wellman and Margaret Wellman (Trosper) in Olympia, Washington on April 13, 1930. She married T. Ray Bracy of Batesville, Arkansas on July 23, 1953. They made their home and raised 3 children in Shelton Washington. Catherine retired from Sears & Roebuck in Shelton, Washington.

Graveside service will be provided by McComb Funeral Home held at Shelton Memorial Park on May 8, 2013.

Mary J. "Joy" Murphy

Mary J. "Joy" Murphy, 77, died at her home on Thursday, May 2, 2013 with family at her side. Mary was born on September 19, 1935 to John M. and Leoncie M. (Imbert) Solomon in Yelm, WA. She was raised in the Bald Hills, baptized at the McKenna Church and attended schools in Yelm and Midland near Tacoma. She married Alfred C. Hillman when she was 16 years old, the marriage ended in divorce. Joy, as most folks knew her, was a queen of all trades. She had served as a laundry attendant, a box factory employee in the Maple Valley area, worked at the Wigwam in Lacey as a retail clerk then relocated to Alaska to work in a grocery store and eventually went to work on the kitchen crew on the Alaska pipeline. She finally came back down to the lower forty-eight, to enroll in a commercial trucking school where she then became a truck driver for Atlantic Richfield (aka. ARCO) at the same time owning and operating her own retail clothing shop. It was during this time when she was introduced to Leo Pat Murphy on a radio dating station. They married in 1978 in Midland, WA at St. Johns in the Woods. Joy never really retired in life, she was a ceramics instructor at South Arizona College as well as a certified Duncan and Doc Holiday Ceramics Instructor. She won many ribbons through competitions and passed this love to her grandchildren. She convinced her husband to adopt a Llama, insisting it would cost them only ten dollars a month for such joy and that was before they ended up with fourteen of them and the comforts they needed. Joy loved the ocean, boating, going to the Casino, fishing, cooking and was an avid reader. She was an exceptional seamstress and quilter, gifted in needlepoint and creating many baby blankets and quilts for her children and grandchildren. Joy is survived by her husband Leo Pat Murphy; daughters, Sandra (Wayne) Sanders, Tumwater and Linda Autry, Apache Junction, AZ; son, Dennis Hillman Sr. Shelton; sisters, Lillian Hicks, Nancy (Wally) Thomas, and Lucy (Bill) Emsley, all of Puyallup; brothers, Martin (Lorrie) Solomon and Tom (Linda) Solomon, both of Tacoma; brother in law, Don Becker Sr., Puyallup, ten grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. She will especially be missed by her faithful, steadfast, service dog Lexus. She is preceded in death by her parents, sisters Lorraine (Warren) and Shirley, son Ray Hillman and son-in-law, Roger Autry. Memorial donations can be made to St. Edwards Catholic Church, 601 W "C" St., Shelton, WA or the Concern for Animals, P.O. Box 4422, Tumwater, WA. Services will be held at St. Edwards Catholic Church on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 11:00 am with a reception to follow. McComb Funeral Home was honored to serve this family.